BNY ConvergEx To Buy Nyfix Millennium Dark Pool For $5 Million

Trading technology firm Nyfix Inc. (NYFX) reported late Thursday that it would sell its Millennium dark pool platform to BNY ConvergEx Group LLC for $5 million.

The deal comes as Nyfix finalizes terms of its acquisition by exchange operator NYSE Euronext (NYX) in a $144 million deal expected to close later this month.

Dark pools, a type of alternative trading system, are electronic venues where large blocks of stocks are traded anonymously.

BNY ConvergEx, an investment and trade execution technology company affiliated with the Bank of New York Mellon (BK), announced earlier this week its intent to take on Nyfix's transaction services business.

Acquiring the Millennium alternative trading system will give ConvergEx three such trading venues, alongside its Vortex and Convergex Cross platforms.

ConvergEx will also acquire Nyfix's direct market access and algorithmic trading products. The deal hinges on the completion of Nyfix's purchase by NYSE Euronext.

The exchange operator is expected to absorb Nyfix's European Millennium platform into NYSE Euronext's existing SmartPool unit.

Nyxfix, a provider of brokerage services and trade stations, was targeted by NYSE Euronext as the exchange company sought access to Nyfix's pretrade order processing community, which includes more than 1,000 market participants including pension funds and asset managers.

The deal is seen expanding the potential client base for NYSE Euronext's market data, trading and connectivity sources, an area the company is looking to grow amid tougher competition in its core trading services business.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4117; [e-mail]